Biography

Jacob Pynas’s artistic training first took place under his brother Jan Pynas, with whom he supposedly travelled to Italy in 1605. Subsequently, both brothers’ work began to reflect the influence of Pieter Lastman and Adam Elsheimer, who were northern artists working in Rome. By 1608 Jacob was back in the Netherlands, staying mostly in Delft. He is one of a group of Dutch artists known as the ‘Pre-Rembrandtists’. Although few of Pynas’s paintings survive, his style is distinctive. The animated figures, broad brushwork and warm brown tone of his work are more firmly rooted in the Dutch than in the Italian painting tradition. Pynas’s work predominantly consists of biblical or mythological scenes set in landscapes.